The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say will put workers’ lives at risk. The Government’s HYEFU shows the deep impact of austerity on the country’s economic outlook. New changes to the Accredited Employer Wok Visa are being welcomed by employers but will make life harder for migrant workers. The controversial Fast Track Approvals Bill has passed into law, with protesters being trespassed from Parliament for unfurling a banner in the House in opposition to the legislation.
Union coverage
- CTU: Minimum wage rate to rise 1.5% next year to $23.50: Unions say it’s stingy, EMA says it’s fair
- CTU: Minimum wage to increase by 1.5% to $23.50 an hour from April
- CTU: Smallest minimum wage increase ‘since the 1990s’
- CTU: Fiscal update shows Kiwis paying price for government’s austerity, critics say
- CTU: The only thing you can count on is more cuts
- PSA: ‘Brutal austerity’ – reaction to opening of govt’s books
- PSA: Health NZ’s IT cutbacks: Faults could ‘snowball’, report warns
Employment
- Government makes it easier for businesses to hire migrants
- Workmates tried but failed to save man crushed to death by conveyor belt
- Forestry worker dies after vehicle roll at Central Hawke’s Bay homestead
- Number of job ads rises for first time in months
- Public service expected to find more savings, job cuts could be on the table
- ‘Enormous mismatch’: What can you do when your leave doesn’t cover the school holidays?
Politics
- Opposition accuses Nicola Willis of ‘creative accounting’
- Fast-track bill passes into law, amid protest
- Early childhood education regulations ‘excessive and confusing’ – Ministry
- ‘Taken the local out of local government’: Councils react to crackdown
- Fewer than half of families eligible for FamilyBoost get payments
- Mental Health Bill: ‘No place for compulsory care’ in new law – academic
Te Ao Māori
- Waitangi trust chair urges Christopher Luxon to show up Treaty grounds
- Te Pāti Māori’s Rawiri Waititi says Luxon may be ‘drop-nuts’ if he doesn’t attend Waitangi Day
- Te Pāti Māori roasts Electoral Commission over Manurewa marae apology
Economics
- Consumer confidence up, but still below long time average
- Property market picks up – but what’s going on in Wellington?
Opinion
- Government’s budget plan is lacklustre and possibly illegal
- Workplace minister doubling down on stripping away worker protections
- Another step in the journey to reform Pharmac
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